Advantages

Disadvantages

An excellent addition to the kids craft box.

At Christmas I wanted to get a few arts and crafts bits and pieces for my Son as his older craft items were getting tatty and used so we needed some shiny new things. A 284ml bottle costs at normal selling price just £1 from the ELC or Mothercare website although they do have a delivery charge unless you order to store which is free. Personally I think this is a huge bargain but it is worth keeping an eye out as there is frequently money off offers, 3 for 2 and the like. When I bought this red paint along with a few other colours I paid just 55p per bottle which is excellent, especially for a product from the Early Learning Centre.

The paint comes in a transparent bottle which allows you to see the paint inside. A simple black flip top lid allows the product to flow from the bottle easily but if excess paint does dry around the opening the cap won't close and it can become messy and spill over the place but just a quick wipe with a wipe or tissue prevents this happening so not a huge problem.The paint itself is not too thick, neither is it too thin. It flows from the bottle well however I don't let my son use it just squirting it onto paper we put it in a tub and use it this way. I think it would be too heavy for my 3 year old to effectively use it straight from the bottle anyway not even considering the mess it would make! The paint dries pretty quickly for kids paint which can be a positive but it is a pain when it goes over the table and needs cleaned up but it dried on even using mats etc doesn't help too much. The brushes clean very well and I have never had a problem trying to clean the paint off a surface. As it is water based there have been no stains or discolouration of the area's we have used this.

The product is said to be suitable from 3-10 years old however I have no idea why you wouldn't be able to use it on younger children, I used this paint when my son was around the 18 month mark and he had no problem with using this for finger painting. On the other side of the coin I don't believe that there would be any problem with a 10+ year old using it either. I feel this is a very versatile paint as we have used it for finger paints, brush and sponge painting, potato painting and all sorts.The pigmentation of these paints are excellent, they are lovely and bright yet at the same time don't leave the colour all over the hands or the surfaces they are being used on. The paints are enticing and encourage my son to use his imagination to paint a picture.

Overall I think these paints are excellent value for money even at the full price they are great. They are bright and encourage imaginative play. The paint is cleaned well and paints well and is versatile for a variety of painting activities. The cap can get crusted and therefore not close but wiping it over after pouring it out stops this happening.